By 2026 and beyond, AI is going to reduce routine compliance time, increase the demand for advisory and create governance-focused roles. It’s going to elevate the importance of judgement and reward those who have adopted AI fluency. It’s not going to replace professional accountants or bookkeepers. It’s not going to eliminate ethical responsibility, and it won’t remove the need for human interpretation. If anything, it’s going to amplify the value of those who lean in. This is our moment.

– Heather Smith

As AI reshapes our profession, we’re essentially seeing less demand for those routine tasks, a boom in strategic roles and new opportunities for those who understand the cross-section between accounting and technology, so less routine, more strategy, more cross-disciplinary. And today, I’d like to talk about what’s changing in the roles, what’s not changing in the roles, what new roles are emerging, and what accountants and bookkeepers should focus on now.

What will AI mean for accounting roles in 2026 and beyond?

Not the hype. Not the fear. Not the “AI will replace us all” headlines. But what is actually happening to roles in accounting and what that means for you as an accountant or bookkeeper.

Across global research and professional bodies, one theme is very clear:

“As AI reshapes our profession, we’re essentially seeing less demand for routine tasks, a boom in strategic roles and new opportunities for those who understand the cross-section between accounting and technology”.

Less routine. More strategic. More cross-disciplinary.

So today, I want to unpack:

1. What’s changing in roles
2. What’s not changing
3. What new roles are emerging
4. What accountants and bookkeepers should focus on now
   

Question 1: Is AI Going to Replace Accounting Jobs?

Let’s start with the big one. Is AI going to replace accountants and bookkeepers?

Short answer? No. But it is replacing tasks.

In the CA ANZ AI Fluency Playbook, they put it clearly:

“While generative AI is a powerful tool and will continue reshaping the profession, it won’t replace you. It cannot replace the critical thinking, ethical judgement and technical accounting skills that are central to what Chartered Accountants offer”.

That’s the nuance. AI replaces:

• Data entry
• First drafts
• Basic reconciliations
• Standardised compliance prep
• Summarisation
• Simple research

But it augments:

• Judgement
• Interpretation
• Context
• Risk assessment
• Client conversations

AI behaves like other general-purpose technologies — it takes time to diffuse, integrate and embed into workflows. It doesn’t instantly transform everything overnight.

This is important. We are in the integration phase, not the replacement phase.

Question 2: So What Roles Are Actually Changing?

1️⃣ Compliance Roles Are Being Reshaped

AI is dramatically reducing the time required for:

• Transaction coding
• Bank reconciliation review
• Draft financial statements
• BAS preparation
• First-pass tax return prep

We’re already seeing this.

But here’s the shift:

Instead of eliminating the role, it changes the focus.

From: “Preparing the report” > To: “Interpreting the report”

From: “Reconciling the data” To: “Validating and explaining anomalies” From: “Producing numbers” To: “Advising on what they mean”. 

This connects directly with the CA ANZ AI Fluency Playbook insight:

“AI provides an unprecedented opportunity to elevate your capacity to deliver — but only if you’re willing to learn, adapt and keep up to date”.

2️⃣ Advisory Roles Are Expanding

Technology doesn’t automatically benefit everyone — the benefits go to those who adapt and reposition themselves.

This is critical for accountants.

AI increases productivity.

But productivity alone doesn’t create value.

Advisory creates value.

In 2026 and beyond, we’ll see more roles like:

• Virtual CFO
• Data-informed business advisor
• Cash flow strategist
• Automation consultant
• AI implementation advisor for SMEs

“In my recent Accounting Apps interview with Kyelie Baxter, FCPA and Managing Director at IQ Accountants,  she highlighted that one of the workflows being reshaped fastest by AI will be accounts payable — not just in automation, but with AI telling us when a bill should be paid based on due date and forecasted cash flow”. 

Bookkeepers, especially, are in a powerful position here. You already sit at the centre of real-time financial data. AI simply enhances your ability to interpret it faster.

Question 3: What New Roles Are Emerging?

Let’s talk about new roles we’ll see more of by 2026.

🧠 AI Governance & Risk Roles

Without effective governance and leadership, AI introduces significant risks.

So what does that mean?

We will see:

• AI risk reviewers in firms
• AI model validation specialists
• AI audit trail designers
• Responsible AI officers

And interestingly, Harvard Business Review recently published an article called “To Thrive in the AI Era, Companies Need Agent Managers” and the authors argue that organisations will need a new role called the ‘Agent Manager’ — someone responsible for orchestrating how AI agents learn, collaborate, perform and work safely alongside humans.”

• Agent managers supervise AI agents much like managers supervise employees
• Focus on safety, accuracy, business alignment

Responsibilities include:

• Monitoring performance
• Refining prompts and workflows
• Managing escalation to humans
• Conducting root cause analysis
• Quantifying ROI

AI assessments will become vital in supporting governance, compliance and performance.

Accountants are perfectly positioned for this.

We already:

• Assess risk
• Evaluate controls
• Review systems
• Document processes
• Validate outputs

AI governance is not a tech role.

It’s a professional judgement role.

REFRAME:  AI is not a “replacement” but AI needs management.

For accountants and bookkeepers, that is powerful — because management, oversight and control are core professional strengths.

📊 Data Quality & AI Output Validation

As AI tools embed into Xero, MYOB, QuickBooks, payroll systems, practice management platforms…

Someone has to:

• Validate outputs
• Review AI-generated advice
• Ensure ethical compliance
• Protect confidentiality

Remember from the ethics session:

AI must not amplify discrimination or bias.

And professional accountants are anchored by:

Integrity
Objectivity
Professional competence
Confidentiality

Those don’t disappear in 2026. They become more important.

Question 4: What Skills Will Matter Most in 2026?

Let’s get practical. According to CA ANZ research:

• 70% of chartered accountants are already using generative AI tools
• 85% are willing to use AI if given the opportunity

This tells us something important: The profession is not resisting AI. It’s adopting it.

So what differentiates professionals going forward?

🔹 AI Fluency

Not coding.

Not machine learning.

But knowing:

• How to prompt well
• How to validate outputs
• When not to rely on AI
• How to embed it into workflow safely

🔹 Critical Thinking

AI generates options.

You choose.

AI drafts advice.

You contextualise it.

AI surfaces patterns.

You determine materiality.

“In my recent interview with Kyelie, she also shared how AI isn’t just about output — it can manage cognitive load. For example, AI in Slack now automatically builds and prioritises her tasks so she can focus on strategic work, not task-list administration.

🔹 Communication Skills

As routine production shrinks, communication grows.

Explaining.
Framing.
Reassuring.
Advising.

“You still need people in the loop at each stage… AI can’t do it on its own.”

Human-in-the-loop is not temporary.

It’s structural.

Question 5: What Should Accountants and Bookkeepers Do Now?

Let’s make this actionable.

If you’re listening in 2026 — or preparing for it — here’s what matters.

1️⃣ Audit Your Task List

What do you do weekly that:

• Is repetitive?
• Is structured?
• Has predictable output?

That’s where AI goes first.

In a recent webinar I did on AI Fluency for Accountants and Bookkeepers with Cameron Anderson FCA he said “Identify two or three low risk high value tasks like automated XBert risk checks to start with. If we can make a difference of five to ten minutes that adds up” 

2️⃣ Shift Time to Interpretation

Every hour saved must be reallocated deliberately.

Not to:

“More work”

But to:

Client insight
Proactive advisory
Relationship building
System improvement

3️⃣ Build Ethical Awareness

Responsible AI is not optional.

From the Responsible AI panel:

There is growing regulatory fragmentation and increasing expectations around governance.

Firms that proactively build AI policy frameworks will be ahead of the curve.

“And this shift isn’t just happening inside accounting firms. We’re seeing governments treat AI as national infrastructure. If you listen to my podcast “From the Floor of Compliance to Sky-High Advisory – Insights from the AB Show 2025” I talk about the Singapore Government. They have a formal initiative through AI Singapore to help organisations move from proof-of-concept to production-ready AI systems, by partnering with Singapore’s top Ai talent.

That tells us something important — AI adoption isn’t experimentation anymore. It’s becoming operational capability.

So firms that are still ‘dabbling’ may need to start thinking more structurally — what’s our implementation framework? What’s our governance model? Who owns this internally?”

Question 6: What’s Not Changing?

This is important.

What’s not changing in 2026 and beyond?

• Trust
• Professional standards
• Ethical obligations
• Confidentiality
• Client reliance on judgement

Technology evolves. Professional responsibility remains.

As the CA ANZ Playbook reminds us: “Humans are in the driver’s seat”. That won’t change.

Let’s summarise. By 2026 and beyond:

AI will:

• Reduce routine compliance time
• Increase demand for advisory
• Create governance-focused roles
• Elevate the importance of judgement
• Reward AI fluency

It will not:

• Replace professional accountants
• Eliminate ethical responsibility
• Remove the need for human interpretation

If anything, it will amplify the value of those who lean in. And for bookkeepers & accountants especially — this is a moment.

You are at the intersection of:

• Data
• Systems
• Clients
• Workflow

AI enhances that. It doesn’t diminish it. Technology alone doesn’t create transformation; leadership does. And as always, keep learning, stay curious and stay at the centre of the change.